"Illegal Downloads"

[The Intransigent Faction]

It was just a matter of time..the influence of America's RIAA has spread to the CRIA here in Canada.
Bourgeois crony Stephen Harper and his cabinet are currently trying to pass a bill that would introduce a $500 fine for all files "illegally transferred" online, especially through programs such as LimeWire.
This bill would also make it illegal to unlock cellphones or copy music from protected CDs to iPods as well as to copy "time-shifted" shows on to personal video recorders if flagged by broadcasters.
To date, Canadians have not been sued for sharing illegal digital material following a ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal in 2004, which denied a request from the Canadian Recording Industry Association to force Internet service providers to subpoena its customers suspected of sharing infringed material based on weak evidence and privacy concerns.
Fortunately, people here seem largely aware of what's happening. Facebook groups and thousands of protests are urging MPs not to vote for this bill.
http://www.nationalpost.com/related/links/story.html?id=559622

[politics student]

The UK has recently been threated with something similar by the main internet providers signing up and reporting users, luckily my internet provider has not yet and if they did I would change.

I do not download I stream which is a form of downloading but not judged the same way I hope.

Still when they find a way to fine us for downloading a new system would be developed to cheat these money grabbing corporations ripping off the artists and the consumers.

[rocker935]

Well, I can't speak for how YOUR countries do it, but I live in America. I have Comcast which is the worst ISP for downloading. I have gotten two emails a while ago from them telling me to stop torrenting. But then I switched to private torrenting trackers and I have not gotten an email since.

[politics student]

Well, I can't speak for how YOUR countries do it, but I live in America. I have Comcast which is the worst ISP for downloading. I have gotten two emails a while ago from them telling me to stop torrenting. But then I switched to private torrenting trackers and I have not gotten an email since.

*claps*

Wow they really stepped up to the challenge to stop downloading torrents, Lets send them annoying emails so they stop.

Saying that at least they gave you the information they knew you were doing it allowing you to find a private way to do it. :D

[Black&Red]

I think if an artist starts protesting against illegal downloads you should stop listenning to him, because it shows he does it just for the money. Music is something that touches everyone, no matter the gender, the coulor of the skin, the religion, the social environement, age ect... and making people pay for it is like killing the essence of entertainement and pleasure. If an artist wants to live from music, he still can do concerts.
Prices are going up everywhere, you must pay every least bit of necessary stuff in your life. I'm surprised that some people actually want to make us pay for culture...

[Dust Bunnies]

I hope someday torrenting is legal, after all, back when the printing press was made, these distributors of knowledge were known as pirates, and locked up in the Bastile (and we saw how that turned out for France). :D

[phoenixashes]

Find a proxy in a country where there are no laws against downloading. Then link that proxy through another proxy in a differnet country with n laws against downloading. Continue doing this until you're computer can't take it anymore or you forget what country you actually live in. Not only will they have no fucking idea you downloaded anything but they will have no fucking idea who the hell you are.

The one problem with this... you have to connect through all them proxies before you get where you want to go. Slooooowwwwww internet.

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

Which countries are there now laws against it?

[AutomaticMan]

I think if an artist starts protesting against illegal downloads you should stop listenning to him, because it shows he does it just for the money. Music is something that touches everyone, no matter the gender, the coulor of the skin, the religion, the social environement, age ect... and making people pay for it is like killing the essence of entertainement and pleasure. If an artist wants to live from music, he still can do concerts.
Prices are going up everywhere, you must pay every least bit of necessary stuff in your life. I'm surprised that some people actually want to make us pay for culture...

*cough*Metallica*cough

Yeah, I'm all for supporting the artists, but I think buying their cds at gigs is the way to go, as opposed to buying from shitty shops. 'Course, the best bands release their stuff free, like NIN did recently and all. I agree that culture is a right, not a privilege.

[phoenixashes]

Which countries are there now laws against it?


There are lots. Just look for proxies in small countries or 3rd world countries or countries who don't really allow the listening of music.

I live in Australia and we have laws against it here... just no one gives a shit. Just use torrents with an out there tracker. No one is gonna give a shit anyway. And if they do threaten you with an email or whatever you've got a chance to run out there and buy the CD therefor you own the rights to the music and are legally allowed to download it.

I had to do it once when my brother was stupid enough to download a video game with a Trojan in it. Fucking government putting Trojans in torrent files. Smart ****s but I'm smarter. Well on this occasion anyway.



To be fair AutomaticMan it wasn't metallica as a whole, it was Lars. If you recall metallica still played the download festival when all that shit was going down and just used Joey from slipknot to replace Lars.

[RedHal]

*cough*Metallica*cough

Yeah, I'm all for supporting the artists, but I think buying their cds at gigs is the way to go, as opposed to buying from shitty shops. 'Course, the best bands release their stuff free, like NIN did recently and all. I agree that culture is a right, not a privilege.

I buy cds from artists who are struggling financially. I have no problems downloading from millionaire artists. Does Lars Ulrich need another fucken mansion or something?

[DIzzIE]

I buy cds from artists who are struggling financially. I have no problems downloading from millionaire artists. Does Lars Ulrich need another fucken mansion or something?

So the commodification of information becomes acceptable when the so-called artist enters a critical stage of 'struggling financially'? Is there a set value to this scale you are employing? A 'minimum wage' of sorts below which it is a-ok to congeal information into marketable products?

[RedHal]

So the commodification of information becomes acceptable when the so-called artist enters a critical stage of 'struggling financially'? Is there a set value to this scale you are employing? A 'minimum wage' of sorts below which it is a-ok to congeal information into marketable products?

quit talking like an intellectual elitist asshole and talk like a normal person and I might answer you

[DIzzIE]

In buying CDs, no matter whether they're from a corporate studio or your local neighborhood crust band, you are saying 'this bit of cultural production can be purchased, can be valued in terms of money, can be reduced to a bit of coin.'

To me, the struggle against intellectual property, against the congealment of cultural data flows into marketable goods, is an unconditional one. As such, I fail to see why it is apparently acceptable to purchase CDs from someone who is apparently below some sort of acceptable income threshold (which I have asked you to demystify by giving me a concrete figure, and then to explain why this figure was selected).

Surely you can dream up some other action instead of 'buying CDs' that would assist the struggling artist in question (if indeed your aim is to assist when you purchase CDs from them, though that is far from clear).

[Dust Bunnies]

CDs are very overpriced, if I ever is involved with making music I'd try to put my music up online for free.

[Knight of Cydonia]

one word...FUCK COPYRIGHT!...
start downloading which music that you wanna download. like..NOW!

[Post-Something]

Just dont use p2p, they suck. Use rapidshare and Megaupload, it's way better.

Check out Sordo for a good database of links.

[Bright Banana Beard]

BitTorrent is the best if you know how to use it...

[Dust Bunnies]

peer to peer war incoming!

To be on topic, its impossible for the RIAA/MPAA/their counterparts to hunt down every single file sharer, take one down, 10 more pop up.

[LOLseph Stalin]

I'm speaking on this issue as a fellow Canadian and I find it sickening. There was a similar issue with the bill stating that cell phone users would be charged for every incoming text message. The phone companies just want more money. As if they didn't have enough already! To get back on topic, the file sharing issue is just another way for greedy Capitalists to make money. Not yet being eighteen, I can't even vote that Stephen Harper nutcase out. :(

[spice756]

Is torrents a web site?



In buying CDs, no matter whether they're from a corporate studio or your local neighborhood crust band, you are saying 'this bit of cultural production can be purchased, can be valued in terms of money, can be reduced to a bit of coin.'



They cost so much because for every CD the factory makes the pop stars get a percent of profit on it.For every CD selling in the store the factory makes a percent of profit on it.

If you could buy from the pop stars it would be cheap.But you buy at store and the store buy from the factory.And every CD the factory makes a percent goes to the pop stars.

The is the same for DVD's too.That is why CD's and DVD's cost soo much.

[Dust Bunnies]

I realized something, the anti-file sharers talk about lost profits, but, if the person could not afford it, is the profit lost, considering the copyright holder would of never been able to get any money from the file sharer.

[Peaceful Revolutionary]

Yeah, I'm a strong believe in internet piracy. Really, the massive amounts of labor and funding that goes into the RIAA doesn't warrant the money that is stolen from downloaders. Actually, it'd be a better use of the funding to just give the money that normally goes to the RIAA straight to the bands that need the money. Not those bands that have made it big, and don't need the money.

As far as places to download stuff, I think that you're better off using a site such as warez-bb.org to try and find stuff on Rapidshare, but if you can't get stuff on there, sites such as thepiratebay.org and mininova.org which serve as Bittorrent trackers also work good.

[Dr Mindbender]

if everyone downloads and torrents rather than buying the laws will become inoperable. They cant prosecute everyone, the whole system would just collapse under the weight of its own red tape.

Another area is video games. A lot of people said there is no moral quandry from pirating from rich elite sources, what about small game developers should we pirate of them or buy their games?

[Peaceful Revolutionary]

if everyone downloads and torrents rather than buying the laws will become inoperable. They cant prosecute everyone, the whole system would just collapse under the weight of its own red tape.

Another area is video games. A lot of people said there is no moral quandry from pirating from rich elite sources, what about small game developers should we pirate of them or buy their games?

My outlook on piracy of movies/games/software is much the same. Steal from the rich, help support the poor. Instead of buying movies and games from all these rich produces *COUGH*EA*COUGH*, steal stuff like that, but maybe buy games that you know you'd like to play that are put out by newer companies. Help them on their feet, and then steal from them.

[Dust Bunnies]

My outlook on piracy of movies/games/software is much the same. Steal from the rich, help support the poor. Instead of buying movies and games from all these rich produces *COUGH*EA*COUGH*, steal stuff like that, but maybe buy games that you know you'd like to play that are put out by newer companies. Help them on their feet, and then steal from them.

An investment for the future!

Honestly, it needs to be open season for pirates right now on EA, their DRM crap has gone on long enough, I just hope the "pirates" shows them who's boss.

[Peaceful Revolutionary]

An investment for the future!

Honestly, it needs to be open season for pirates right now on EA, their DRM crap has gone on long enough, I just hope the "pirates" shows them who's boss.

Well, consumers are finally starting to stand up to them. I'm too lazy to dig up the article, but after Spore came out, and it featured the infamous DRM-protection, gamers went to amazon.com and all gave the game 1-star ratings. Even though it's a decent game, there are over 2500 1-star ratings :) Even though it isn't really much, at least people are starting to realize that if they don't do something, companies will continue to walk all over them.

[The Intransigent Faction]

I'm speaking on this issue as a fellow Canadian and I find it sickening. There was a similar issue with the bill stating that cell phone users would be charged for every incoming text message. The phone companies just want more money. As if they didn't have enough already! To get back on topic, the file sharing issue is just another way for greedy Capitalists to make money. Not yet being eighteen, I can't even vote that Stephen Harper nutcase out. :(

Wow that's crazy.
Yeah..I couldn't either.
If he'd called the election next year like he was supposed to according to his own proposed "fixed election dates" *hint hint*, then I would've been able to...although I wouldn't want to validate the bourgeois 'democracy'.
There was a group that CBC briefly mentioned on Election Day called the "Edible Ballot Society": http://edibleballot.tao.ca/ Clever...lol.

At any rate, that was kind of off-topic, so:

Check out Weird Al Yankovic's "Don't Download This Song"...that pretty much inspired me to start this topic :P

Hmm...as for pirating from poorer artists...Since many or most of them would want wealth just as the already rich want to keep theirs, "Help them on their feet, and then steal from them" sounds like a good idea...perhaps. I almost even stopped listening to illegally downloaded Metallica mp3s.

[Drace]

Oh noes!

I have over $10000 dollars of Illegal software!

[Dust Bunnies]

Oh noes!

I have over $10000 dollars of Illegal software!

Epic win.

Please tell us what did you liberate.

[scarletghoul]

The idea that you should have to pay to listen to music is stupid...
Anyway yeah it is worrying that they are now trying to censor the internet. The internet was great because it was international freedom. I got a threatening message from some government thing the other day. But yeah there are ways around all these attempts at censorship at the moment

[bellyscratch]

I've been doing a follow up to an essay I did last year about file sharing. Its more about how the music industry has changed because of file sharing as well as how the music industry could look like in the future, which I tried to portray as more socialist type system where artists from collectives and give away music for free:cool:

[scarletghoul]

That could be interesting. It would be logical way for record labels to adapt to internet and could probably happen very soon.